Notably, Eknath Shinde had led a revolt in June of this year against the Shiv Sena leadership, which led to the fall of the state government led by Thackeray and made up of the Sena, NCP, and Congress.
After that, Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP served as Shinde's deputy when Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister.
Since then, the two factions have been embroiled in a bitter legal struggle for the control of the party, for the iconic Shiv Sena bow and arrow symbol.
The Sharad Pawar-led party is of the view that the real Shiv Sena carries the ideas of the party founder the late Bal Thackeray, which is Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena, said party spokesperson Mahesh Tapase. "Two Dussehra rallies will be held this year. One is of tradition, loyalty, self-respect and ideas of Balasaheb (Thackeray) which means the one led by Uddhav Thackeray.
Even though the decision on which is the real Shiv Sena is pending with the Election Commission, the real Shiv Sena is the one that has the ideas of Balasaheb (Thackeray) which means it is the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena," he said in a video statement.
Also, The opposition Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), supporting the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena faction, stated that only a Dussehra gathering presided over by the Thackeray family could be considered a "legitimate" one amid the raging tussle between the rival Shiv Sena factions over who would hold the party's annual Dussehra rally in Mumbai's Shivaji Park.
In a setback for Thackeray, the Supreme Court last week allowed the EC to go ahead with hearing the Eknath Shinde group’s plea seeking recognition as the ‘real’ Shiv Sena and allocation of the party’s bow-and-arrow poll symbol to it.
The Thackeray-led faction is scheduled to hold a rally at Shivaji Park in Mumbai, while the group led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has booked the MMRDA grounds at the Bandra Kurla Complex for the October 5 congregation. NCP chief Sharad Pawar and top leaders of the party have been backing the Thackeray-led faction since the split in Shiv Sena. The Thackeray-led Sena is one of the three members of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
